Aeroplame



J. F. PENN July 1 1924.

AEROPLANE Fild March 14 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 J. F. PENN AEROPLANE July1 1924.

Filed March 14 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 atfonmq July 1 1924. 1,499,943

. J. F. PENN AEROPLANE Filed March 14 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 m thischaracter hag its "Patented cly l, 1924 se ses as name it, sees. s rialNo. eeaieo.

- after the manner of a parachute, thereby ill I soaring.

adding materially to safety in flight.

Another object is to so place the weight of the machine that the centerof gravity will be located well below the planes, thereby enabling thecar or fuselage to be utilized as a stabilizing means I v A furtherobject is to provide means for shifting the position of the car relativeto the wings to control the flight upwardly or downwardly and to enablethe user to bring the machine to any position desirable for A stillfurther object is to-provide improved means for steering the aeroplane.

With the foregoing and other objects inv view whichwill appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention consists of certain novel details ofconstruction and combinations of parts which will be hereinafter morefully (described and pointed out in the claims, it being understood thatvarious changes maybe me in the construction and arrangement of theparts without departin from the spirit of the invention as claims In theaccompang' drags the. n? ferred form at the invention. s t shown. I Y

In said drawings- I Figural is a plan view of the machine.

Figure 2 is aside elevation.

Figure 3 is a front elevation.

Figure 4 is a plan view of the steering mechanism.

Figure 5 is a section on-line 5-5, Figure 4.

i Figure 6 is an enlard vertical transverse section through the cartaken where it is suspended from the plane structure. I

Figure 7 is a section on .line 7'--7,, Figure 8. H

Figure 8 is a section on line 8-8, Figure 6. v

Figure 9 is a section through legs of the running" gear. Referring tothe figures reference, 1 designates the central sustain ing' planehaving depending longitudinal banking planes 2 along the sides thereofand one of the perpendicular thereto. lhe lower edges of these planes 2are suitably connected and a transverse shaft 3 is also attached to saidplanes.- A car 4 is suspended from this by characters of.

shaftand has sleeves 5 secured to it. These sleeves are adapted torotate on the shaft and extend into bearin s 6. Shaft 3 is intersectedby a frame adapted to rotate therewith and spacing sleeves 8 are securedto the shaft and frame and abut against the sleeves 5. A motor9ispivotally mounted in the frame?- and has a shaft 10 extendingforwardly therefrom andover an arcuate guide rail 11 extendingtransversely in front of the banking planes 2 and suitably secured tothem. A slide 12 is mounted on this rail, as shown in Figure 5 andconstitutes a bearing for the shaft 10. A propeller 13' is connected tothe front end of shaftlt).

Operating cables 13 are connected to opposite sides respectively of theslide 12 and engage guide pulleys 14: at the ends of the rail 11. Fromthese pulleys the cables ea:- tend backwardly along converging lines toguideepulleys 15 in the car 4 and thence to a spool 16 or the likemounted for rotation in. the car. A hand wheel or other suitableoperating means is connected to the spool as she at 17 and by meansthereof a pull can be exerted through either cable upon the slide 12 soas to move the slide in either direction and cause the shaft 10 and its@motor to swing to the right or to the left relative to the car.

In this way the aeroplane can be easily guided while in flight.

" One of the sleeves 5 has a disk '18 secured thereto or integraltherewith provided with aseries of apertures 19 adjacent the peripherythereof. Another disk 20 is integral with or secured to one of thesleeves 8 and has anarm or lever 21 extending downwardly therefrom. Abell-crank 22 is mounted on this disk 20 and-has a pin 23 connected toone arm and slidable in the disk 20. The other arm of the bell-crank isconnected by a rod 24 to a hand lever 25. A spring 26 serves to hold the23 normally projected into one of the openings 19 in disk 18 thereby tocouple the two disks, as shown in Figure 6.

Therunning or landing gear of the aeroplane preferably consists 'of fourlegs located at the respective corners of the car 4, as shown at 27.Each leg includesa tubular member secured to the car, as at 28 andhousing the upper portion of a slidable member 29. A spring 30 islocated in the tubular member and bears against the slid able member toconstitute a cushion for the car and each slidable member has a wheel 31mounted therein.

The main sustaining lane 1 has side sustaining planes 32 eXten inglaterally therefrom and is also provided with a tail plane 33. lhe sideplanes are preferably provided at their outer ends with rearwardlyextending portions 34. By referringto Figure 1 it will be noted that thecar f is located under the center of the main win 1 so that themachineis properly balanced laterally. As shown in Figures 2 and 3 thecar is positioned well below the planes. Thus the centerof gravity islocated at a point where the machine will be stabilized. In other wordsthe car will act as a weight or pendulum to maintain the lateral balanceof the aeroplane and the entire structure willbefree to ravitate like aarachute should the props ling force fail. y means of the lever 21, pin23 and the disks, the car can be fastened at any desired angle relativeto the planes so that the weight of the car and its contents willmaintain the planes at any desired angle of incidence. As beforeexplained the shaft 10 and propeller 13' can be swung laterally to guidethe machine.

Importance is attached to the use of the banking planes 2 as they act todisplace air laterally and downwardly when the machine neeaeae istilted, thereby serving to prevent overturning and to increase theparachute action of the machine when descending.

What is claimed is 1. An aeroplane including main and side sustainingplanes, parallel. banking planes at the sides of the main plane, and acar pivotally connected to and suspended from hetween the bankingplanes.

2. An aeroplane including main and side sustaining planes, parallelbanking planes at the sides of the main plane, a car suspended frombetween the banking planes and constituting a lateral stabilizer, apropeller shaft mounted between and extending forwardly from the bankingplanes, and means in the car for adjusting the shaft laterallyangularly.

3. An aeroplane including main and side sustaining planes, parallelbanking planes depending therefrom at the sides of the main plane, a carsuspended from between and mounted to swing relative to the bankingplanes, a forwardly extending propeller shaft in front of the car, andmeans within the car for angularly adjusting the shaft laterallyrelative to the car and planes.

4. An aeroplane including main and side sustaining planes, parallelbanking planes thereunder at the sides of the main plane, a carpivotally connected to and suspended from between the banking planes,said oar constituting a lateral stabilizer, and means within the car forholding it against swinging movement relative to the planes and at adesired angle relative thereto.

5. An aeroplane as set forth in claim 4 having .a forwardly extendingpropeller shaft, an arcuate guide therefor, a motor connected to andmovable with the shaft, and means in the car for adjusting the shaftangularly relative to the car.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

JOHN F. PENN.

